Q&A: The COVID-19 pandemic
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The COVID-19 pandemic
The current pandemic brought on by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID19 has certainly altered our world and our way of working. MRS Bulletin has opened this column of Questions and Answers (Q&A) in order to publish the experiences of members of the Materials Research Society during this time.
Haiyan Wang
Basil S. Turner Professor of Engineering, Purdue University, USA 2021 Volume Organizer, MRS Bulletin
How will the current environment fundamentally change the way in which materials research will be done in the future?
I am a professor of MSE [Materials Science & Engineering] at Purdue University and a hardcore experimentalist working in the area of epitaxial thin-film growth, functional ceramic nanocomposite designs, and transmission electron microscopy. Unfortunately, every part of our work requires physical lab access. Having worked as a technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory for three years and as a faculty member for more than 15 years, I have always enjoyed the great fun and joy of experimental new materials discoveries by myself and with my students and postdocs. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything in my entire research group (15 PhD students and postdocs). All of a sudden, we have realized that being able to work in the labs physically has become
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a “luxury” and is nearly impossible. We once even dreamed that we were a modeling group and could conduct a large portion of research on computers. Now we are working on standard operating procedures for each lab with every detail imagined to prevent social interactions and to ensure our students have a safe research environment. We are expected to return to the labs in mid-June. As a faculty member, I have tried to devote more time to meet with students and postdocs (virtually for sure), go through their data, and plan their future research more effectively, as the concept of trial-and-error experimental design is no longer possible since lab access is limited by social distancing requirements. Currently, all equipment training has to be postponed due to social distancing. We are actively planning for virtual training and video recordings for new students and users. I believe students need our help and support to stay focused. I am not sure how long this pandemic will last, but it has significantly altered our research plans in 2020 and will perhaps impact all of our work even longer.
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are all materials discoverers and explorers, and critical materials discoveries that could lead to a game change in this pandemic and future ones could come from one of us! What are your additional thoughts on the current situation and how it has altered our world and life?
The pandemic has changed our teaching and mentoring efforts significantly. At Purdue, we are currently hosting all summer classes online, and all of the major meetings and activities are canceled. We have also scheduled all final theses defense and project meetings virtually in the summer. Effectively conducting online teaching
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